Michelle Trachtenberg, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Harriet the Spy’ star, dies at 39
Actress Michelle Trachtenberg poses for a portrait during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Mark Mainz, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Michelle Trachtenberg, a former child star who appeared in the 1996 “Harriet the Spy” hit movie and went on to co-star in two buzzy millennial-era TV shows — “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Gossip Girl” — has died. She was 39.
Police responded to a 911 call shortly after 8 a.m. at a 51-story luxury apartment tower in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood where officers found Trachtenberg “unconscious and unresponsive,” according to an NYPD statement.
Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene. No foul play was suspected and the New York Medical Examiner is investigating the cause of death, police said.
“The family requests privacy for their loss,” Trachtenberg’s representative, Gary Mantoosh, said in a statement Wednesday.
Trachtenberg was 8 when she began playing Nona Mecklenberg on Nickelodeon’s “The Adventures of Pete & Pete” from 1994 to 1996 and then starred in the title role in the film adaptations of “Harriet the Spy” and “Inspector Gadget,” opposite Matthew Broderick.
“Michelle comes off as genuine because she really is a genuine kid. Everyone can identify with her,” said Debby Beece, president of Nickelodeon Movies in 1996.
In 2000 Trachtenberg joined the cast of “Buffy,” playing Dawn Summers, the younger sister of the title character played by Sarah Michelle Gellar between 2000 and 2003.
Trachtenberg thanked Gellar for speaking out against Joss Whedon in 2021, following abuse allegations made against the “Buffy” showrunner. “I am brave enough now as a 35-year-old woman to repost this,” she wrote on social media, and alluded to “his not appropriate behavior” she experienced as a teenage actor.
In 2001, she received a Daytime Emmy nomination for hosting Discovery’s “Truth or Scare.” Trachtenberg went on to recurring roles on “Six Feet Under,” “Weeds” and “Gossip Girl,” where she played the gang’s scheming nemesis, Georgina Sparks.
For her fan-favorite role, she was nominated as a TV villain at the Teen Choice Award in 2012. “It’s definitely a lot more fun than playing the good girl,” she told Seventeen in 2009. I love the reaction you get. I never understood why some actors don’t want to play villains or evil characters.”
She was one of the original series’ stars to return for a pair of guest appearances in the 2021 “Gossip Girl” revival.
Blake Lively on Instagram on Tuesday honored her “Gossip Girl” co-star: “The world lost a deeply sensitive and good person in Michelle. May her work and her huge heart be remembered by those who were lucky enough to experience her fire.”
As if to cement herself in millennial culture, Trachtenberg made a cameo in Fall Out Boy’s music video for the “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” alongside Seth Green.
Hollywood took to social media to mourn one of their own, one who had made the transition from kid star to teen queen to adult actor. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” co-star David Boreanaz said on Instagram it was “so very sad.. horrible news.” Melissa Gilbert, who starred with Trachtenberg in the 1996 film “A Holiday for Love,” wrote on Instagram: “My heart aches for your family and all those who loved you so.”
Rosie O’Donnell, who starred alongside Trachtenberg in her “Harriet the Spy” debut, said her death was “heartbreaking:” “I loved her very much. She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped.” Glee star Chris Colfer remembered her this way: “Michelle was the absolute sweetest and one of the most supportive people I knew,” he wrote.
Trachtenberg’s later credits included “Ice Princess” in 2005, playing a math prodigy and aspiring figure skater. The AP said it had “a good, though feeble, heart and the best of intentions” and said Trachtenberg was “mining the same nervous twitter from her kid-sister days on ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’”
The New York City-born Trachtenberg also appeared in the 2004 teen sex comedy “EuroTrip,” she co-starred with Zac Efron and Leslie Mann in 2009’s “17 Again” and played a murderous stalker and abductor on an episode of “Criminal Minds.”
For “Killing Kennedy,” the 2013 film in which she played the wife of Lee Harvey Oswald, around 80% of Trachtenberg’s dialogue was in Russian. She had learned the language from her mother growing up.
Other credits included supporting roles in the films “Mysterious Skin” in 2004 and “Black Christmas” in 2006. She also starred on the NBC medical series “Mercy” (2009–2010) opposite Taylor Schilling. More recently, she hosted the true-crime docuseries “Meet, Marry, Murder” on Tubi.
Associated Press Writer Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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Michelle Trachtenberg’s natural talent shone in everything from Harriet the Spy to Buffy
Trachtenberg, who has died aged 39, was the fortunate child actor: successfully pivoting into an adult career peppered with millennial hits
A
ctress Michelle Trachtenberg, , is most famous for two very different roles in two very different shows that both loom large in the millennial consciousness. She was a fifth season addition to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, taking on the role of Buffy’s mysterious sister Dawn, a complicated, maturing young woman who came to occupy a central role in the series’ mythology. Four years later, she began a recurring role on Gossip Girl, as the Cruella-squared pot-stirrer Georgina Sparks, whom Trachtenberg once described as “basically the evil bitch from hell”.
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‘Buffy’ and ‘Gossip Girl’ actress Michelle Trachtenberg dead at 39
The actress starred in beloved TV series and films.
Actress Michelle Trachtenberg dies at 39
Michelle Trachtenberg, an actress best known for her roles in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Gossip Girl,” has died at age 39.
Trachtenberg was found dead Wednesday in her New York City apartment near Columbus Circle just after 8 a.m. local time by her mother, police sources told ABC News.
The sources told ABC News the actress recently underwent a liver transplant and may have been experiencing complications. Trachtenberg is believed to have died of natural causes and no foul play is suspected.
An autopsy will be conducted by the medical examiner’s office to determine the cause and manner of death.
Trachtenberg, a New York City native, made her acting debut as a child star with roles in Nickelodeon projects, including the television series “The Adventure of Pete & Pete” and the film “Harriet the Spy.”
Her big break came when she was cast on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” as Dawn, the younger sister of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s titular character, from 2000 to 2003. The role earned her a Teen Choice Award nomination for choice TV sidekick in 2001.
Trachtenberg recently reminisced on her days co-starring with Gellar on “Buffy.” Just last month, she shared a photo of them together, captioning it: “Slay all day! Always loved this twinning photo of us! #buffy #dawn #sister #womancrushwednesday.”
The actress also made a cameo in Fall Out Boy’s music video for the band’s hit song “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” in 2007.
Trachtenberg starred as Georgina Sparks on “Gossip Girl” from 2008 to 2012. For her role, she was nominated as the choice TV villain at the Teen Choice Award in 2012.
“It’s kind of easy to be evil when you’re saying evil things,” said Trachtenberg of her “Gossip Girl” role to Seventeen in 2009. “It’s definitely a lot more fun than playing the good girl. I love the reaction you get. I never understood why some actors don’t want to play villains or evil characters.”
Trachtenberg has also appeared in a wide range of television shows, including “Mercy,” “Weeds,” and earlier in her career, ‘Truth or Scare.” She had a minor arc in HBO’s “Gossip Girl” reboot in 2022.
In film, she took on roles including “EuroTrip,” “17 Again” and “The Scribbler.”
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